New York Rangers trade target: Andreas Johnsson

Making a case for Johnsson

So, let’s get on with it. Why would Andreas Johnsson be a good fit for the New York Rangers?

For starters, he has youth on his side and is still a few years away from reaching his peak which would mean the Blueshirts would inherit a player who could make an immediate impact now in addition to being a huge piece of this rebuild and what will hopefully be a Stanley Cup contender going forward.

His stats from this year are also impressive too and, when you combine that with the eye test, he could easily slot in as a high quality top six forward for the Rangers.

Starting with what I call the soft stats, he had 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points in 73 games for the Maple Leafs during the regular season in 2018-19, including six points on the power play.

That is significant because the the Blueshirts are in need of more weapons on the man advantage and Johnsson could be a key piece in that puzzle.

Now let’s dive deeper into Johnsson’s season. His stock has risen considerably over the last few months and that’s not surprising when you consider that only three forwards in the NHL produced more points in a 5-on-5 situation per 60 minutes from Nov, 24 until the end of the season than Johnsson. (Stats courtesy of The Athletic).

Those three players were Nikita Kucherov, Patrick Kane and Johnny Gaudreau who all reached the 100 point plateau in 2018-19 when you combine the regular season and playoffs.

Johnsson’s 2.95 points per 60 minutes during that stretch put him on a level above some lofty names including Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Mitch Marner.

That is simply an insane stat and just illustrates just how deadly Johnsson can be when he’s operating at the peak of his powers.

Consider this as well. Johnsson was put on a line with Auston Matthews for large chunks of the year and the pair proved to be a match made in heaven, their contrasting styles working together in perfect harmony.

Matthews benefited hugely from Johnsson’s blistering speed and their line exploded for 56 percent of the shot attempts and 57 percent of scoring chances with an expected goals for percentage of 55 percent. (Stats courtesy of The Athletic). 

Granted, there are wrinkles in Johnsson’s game that need ironing out namely his inconsistency which also plagued his game at the end of the year. He had only one goal and six assists over the final 17 games of the regular season and was prone to disappearing for stretches during games. It’s also a bit of a concern that he only notched six power play points all season despite seeing almost two minutes of power play time per game.

Of course, all young players will go through peaks and valleys early on in their careers and it is worth remembering that Johnsson is coming off his rookie year, so slumps and rough periods were to be expected.

He’ll only add more consistency to his game the older he gets and the signs are there that he has all the tools and weapons in his armory to be able to morph into a very dangerous, if not elite, NHL forward.